Protecting data requires all of us: Summary from the Earth, Space, and Environmental Sciences Global Data Resilience Convening

During the final week in March, members of the DRP Steering Committee Lynda Kellam and Amy Nurnberger attended a global gathering of data experts and advocates hosted by AGU. This convening brought nearly 100 cross-disciplinary experts to Berlin, Germany. Over 5 days, discussions prioritized building relationships, identifying challenges, and building towards solutions. This allowed representatives to accomplish several key objectives in a short amount of time, including initial development of a roadmap for data resilience and sustainability as well as identifying key international partners for a future governance framework.

Amy recently reflected on her experience, and along with deep gratitude and appreciation to AGU for the invitation, this was an invaluable opportunity for the DRP to be in attendance. “Along with others, the DRP contributed perspectives on rapid response, community action and engagement, and the critical need for effective coordination. The willingness of participants to offer perspectives and take in experiences and lessons learned from different operating environments gives hope that as a collective community of data producers and users we will be able to approach shared solutions as the best answer to shared risks.”

Moving forward, key priorities are ensuring rescued datasets are discoverable and trackable within the repository ecosystem and developing short-term resources such as mutual aid networks and crisis preparedness kits for repositories (we’ll have more on this from the DRP side soon… stay tuned!).

We are grateful to the event organizers for extending an invitation and look forward to continued conversations.